Live every moment as if it were your last
by Shaline
Summary: Gordie's cousin, Shaline moves into the town of Castle Rock and soon befriends the boys we all know and love, especially Chris. What will happen when they find out about her deadly secret?
1. The Beginning

_Author's note; this is my first fan fiction. I hope it doesn't suck as much as I think it does._

_Throughout the fan fiction you'll probably notice a couple of references to River Phoenix (like Shaline's last name, stuff like that) as a bit of a tribute sort of thing._

Gordie and his three friends sat around him in their small stuffy tree house. He was tampering with the large inconvenient radio, scowling at it occasionally. His best friend, Chris Chambers, was deep in thought in a game of chess against Teddy Duchamp. Vern Tessio was leaning against one of the walls reading a comic book.

Frustrated, Gordie stuck his tongue out at the radio and tossed it onto a shelf. It crackled and burst out in song; Gordie recognized it as a "Dion" track.

"Hey, man" Chris looked up, halfway between taking down one of Teddy's pawns, "it's a fucking _radio_. "No need to throw it around"

Gordie wrinkled his nose at him and grabbed a comic. Chris raised his eyebrows.

Silence engulfed the tree house for a few moments before Gordie spoke, "Hey, guys, can you do me a favor? My first cousins, or something, is coming tomorrow and I've gotta go pick her up at the train station"

Teddy interrupted him, "I'm not doing your chores for you!" Gordie rolled his eyebrows and continued, "No, I mean can you guys come _with_ me?"

Chris shrugged "sure, whatever"

Vern looked faintly interested, "okay" he said closing his comic, "what's her name? How old is she?"

"Something stupid, Shaline I think. She's our age. Bit of a bitch. Last time she came I was 8 and it was like having a teenager in the house. Snobby."

"Yeah, the eight year old teenager" snorted Chris.

"What 'bout you Teddy" asked Gordie, ignoring Chris's comment.

"Is she hot?"

Chris scoffed. "Teddy, we're talking about a relative of _Geordie_ what do _you_ think? Geordie rolled his eyes and gave a loud fake sigh "Even if she _is _hot, you can't go near her. Especially not _you._" He said jabbing his finger at Teddy.

Teddy wrinkled his nose at him and turned back to the game, where he flicked Chris's queen off the board

"Hey!" He protested, putting out his cigarette on the table, "Asshole! You can't take my queen!"

Teddy squinted his eyes at Chris, "that's what you don't know" he said mysteriously, and then erupted in a fit of laughter.

Chris gave him a look of fake alarm, and leaned over to search for the missing queen which had rolled across the room to Vern's feet.

"Where's she from, anyway?" He asked resuming to the game.

"Some place in Britain"

"So she's got a sexy accent?" Teddy asked eagerly.

"Fuck off"

He was silent for a couple seconds, and then said "Anyway, like I said; she's an irritating bitch. You won't like her anyway"

"Ahahahahaha! I win! Chris loooooooses!!"

"Good job Teddy" said Chris sarcastically as he tipped the pieces into a box, and folded up the board.

Vern put down his comic.

"I'm bored" he whined. "There's nothing to do."

It was the summer after they had gone on their two day journey into the forest, and they were growing apart. You can always tell if you're growing apart from your friends when people complain about being bored. It's practically a fact of life. You should never be bored when you're with your best friends. Gordie could see this, but he knew Teddy and Vern were oblivious to it. Chris, he wasn't sure about.

"Well," said Chris, "we could go down to the Blue Point and hang out...." he trailed off.

Geordie shrugged. "Sure, why not."

_AN; hope you like it so far! I'll be posting te next chapter in a couple of days._


	2. Secrets

_I'd like to apologise for my spelling/punctuation in the last chapter. It was a bit of a spur of the moment kind of thing and I (stupidly, I might add) didn't bother to re-read it for spelling errors. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!_

Gordie, Chris and Vern sat on the steps of the train station boarding dock, waiting for Shaline's train to come. Gordie was munching on the last little bit of an ice cream cone. Chris had already inhaled his, and Vern had to go back for another one after he dropped his first on the pavement.

"This is so boring" said Chris, stretching out his legs in front of him and leaning back, "Her train was supposed to be here _hours_ ago"

"I know" Gordie said, looking just as perturbed, "They must have be-" his words were cut short as a loud airy train whistle sounded, and the ground beneath them began to shake gently. Vern jumped at the sound, causing his second ice cream cone to drop to the ground.

"Aw, shit" he complained, staring at the cone and pouting.

The train whistled he train whistled again and this time Gordie could see puffs of smoke billowing out from the forest. He stood up and brushed the dust of his jeans. Chris followed.

Gordie squinted his eyes against the bright sunlight to see the train doors open. A middle aged woman stepped out from the first carriage, an old couple from the second, and so on.

"Is that her?" Chris asked uncertainly, pointing towards young girl wearing a long green flowery skirt and a white blouse. She caught his eye and studied the trio for a moment, then gave a loud shriek.

"GORDIE!" she yelled rushing towards them and pulling Gordie into a hug.

"Wow", said Vern , "She talks funny." Chris rolled his eyes.

"Oh, wow I haven't seen you in _ages"_ she exclaimed. She stepped back and Chris was able to study her more carefully. She had shoulder length honey brown hair and soft brown doe-like eyes, not unlike Gordie's. She was about an inch taller than him and she had a wide smile that showed off a row of very straight white teeth. Chris couldn't help notice that she was very pretty.

Gordie introduced her to Chris and Vern, "This is Shaline, Shaline this is Vern. This is Shaline, Shaline this is Chris" He grinned at her and extended his hand to shake hers.

The smile never faded from her face as they set off towards the Lachance household.

They set off, walking towards Gordie's house.

"You've really changed since I last saw you, Shaline" said Gordie conversationally.

There was to much truth in this to ignore. The last time Shaline had visited, she was very moody, snapping at everyone, and getting upset about the tiniest things. It semmed, though, that she had turned into a very happy optimistic person in her absence.

"I know", she chuckled, "Last time I was a bit of a bitch, huh?" He grinned appreciatively.

"So your dad's coming out in a couple of days, right? he's bringing all of your stuff?" She nodded.

"Chester's coming too"

Chris and Vern looked blank. "My older brother" she explained.

"What about your mom?" asked Vern. Gordie elbowed him in the side and grimaced.

"No, it's ok. I don't mind" said Shaline, "My mum left when I was born. I was a bit of an accident. She was always drinking and stuff. Chester's actually my half brother, my dad's wife died when Chester was 8. My dad took it pretty hard, and when my mom left he kind of lost it. He.......he hasn't been the greatest father. He drinks alot now."

As she said this, she reached up to fiddle with her hair and her blouse was pulled up, exposing an inch of bare skin where, Chris noticed, she had an ugly purple bruise on her waist. Gordie frowned at her and opened his mouth to say something, but she gave him a half smile, pleading with her eyes, and he stopped.

Shaline sat in the Lachance's guest room on the edge of the bed back-brushing her hair with a tiny blue comb. She now looked as if it she been electrocuted.

A soft knock at her door interrupted her. "Come in" she said. The door opened and Gordie stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and looked at Shaline. He jumped.

"Jesus Christ! What happened to your hair?" She grinned at him.

He made his way over to the bed and seated himself beside Shaline. She fiddled with a hole in the bed cover and averted her eyes.

"Thanks for not saying anything today"

"It's ok" sad Gordie, "but that was pretty stupid. This town isn't like London. People are going to find out."

"I don't want them to find out" she pleaded, "Thats why we're moving here. To get away from what I had to deal with in Britain. I need some peace and quiet."

"But why did you have to say that about your dad? They're going to meet him someday"

Shaline looked back up at Gordie and locked eyes with him. "Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, it's an excuse for my bloody bruises"

Gordie nodded, and leaned over to give Shaline a hug. "Good to have you back, cuz" he said. He was just about to shut the door behind him when he remembered something, "my friend Chris, you know, the blond one" she nodded.

"He seemed pretty interested in you"

Shaline cocked her head to the side,

"oh, did he now?"

_AN: I hope my description of Shaline didn't see, to "perfect" but it's important for her character to be like that, because of what she's going to be "dealing with" later on in my fanfiction._


	3. Fuckwittage

_Sorry I took so long writing the chapter. I had a really basic idea of where the story was going but I needed to figure something out. Anyway last night I was watching "Where the Heart is" and I was greatly inspiredd by it. So, with out further ado, here is chapter three; Fuckwittage._

"SHAY"

Shaline groaned and turned over onto what she thought was still her bed, but turned out to be the floor.

Gordie and Chris stood at the bottom of the stairs. A loud thump sounded and they grinned at each other guessing at what had happened.

Shaline's door opened and she emerged looking as though she had been dragged through a bush and back. Her hair was matted and tangled from tossing and turning during the night.. She had slept in her clothes and they were creased and looked hardly comfortable at all.

"Whoa" said Chris, "Who'd _you_ sleep with?" She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at him playfully.

Gordie made a face, "Urgh. Anyway, we're going to the diner for breakfast, wanna come?"

"Sure. Just gimme a second to.......um.....freshen up, k?" Gordie nodded, and led Chris into the dining room to wait for Shaline.

"So what do you think about her?" asked Gordie as they sat down

"Who? Shaline?"

"No, moron, my grandmother. Who do you think? Of course I mean Shaline."

"Well I don't know it could have been anyone."

"So?"

"So, what?" Gordie sighed.

"Do I have to spell it in big red letters?"

"Oh. I like her; she's really.......optimistic. She's kind of..different though. But I can hardly believe she was ever a bitch."

"Oh believe you me. She was."

"Who was?" Shaline walked into the dining room, looking considerably more attractive than five minutes before. Her hair was up in a bun and she had a different skirt and blouse on.

"No one." She shrugged, "Shall we head over to the diner then?"

"Sure"

They all grabbed their jackets and headed for the door. Shaline's jacket pocket was open and as ahe swung it around her head, the contents of it spilled to the floor.

"Fuckwittage" she muttered, bending over to retrieve a 1 dollar bill from the floor.

"Fuckwittage?" asked Chris, "Fuckwittage? What the fuck does that mean?"

"English slang" she said grinning up at him.

He shook his head, and then stooped down to help her.

"What's this?" he asked holding up a blue L shaped object with a prescription at the bottom

"My inhaler. I've got asthma." She said, not looking up. He handeed it to her and she dtuffed it in her pocket along with a coin.

They finished picking up the contents of her pocket, and headed out of the door, and headed over to the Blue Pointe diner.

"Do you have pancakes with no eggs in them by any chance?" The waiter looked at Shaline, bemused. "No, I'm sorry, we don't"

"Oh, ok" Shaline bit her lip in thought, "well, that's alright, I'll have the one's with eggs anyway" The waiter turned to leave but Shaline stopped her "and could we get some salsa, please?" The waitress nodded, and turned around. Chris stared at her, half laughing. She grinned back.

"I'm a vegan" she explained, "but it's really hard to find vegan food at restaurants"

"What the hell is a vegan?" asked Gordie, eyebrows raised.

"it's someone that doesn't eat any animal products. No milk no eggs or anything" Chris and Gordie were silent for a couple of seconds, before striking up a conversation about the latest Dean Martin album.

The waitress returned with their food and a bowl of salsa for Shaline.

Shaline picked up a whole pancake and attempted to wipe off the syrup before dunking it in the salsa. Chris choked on a sip of water and spewed it all over the table. Shaline smiled at him playfully.

"I like salsa with my pancakes, baby."(_sorry, I'm listening to Amanda Marshall right now_)

_Ok, this chapter was pretty short, but I promise I'll post another one soon. Hope you liked it! _


	4. Slamming Doors

_Alrighty! I apologise profusely for lying to you. It's been a couple months since I last posted and I know I promised to post a new chapter "soon" but...ah well. Anyways, here is the next chapter!_

They finished eating, and paid the waiter. As they headed out the door Gordie looked down at his watch. It was an old watch that used to be his brother's. He had found it in Denny's room when they cleaned it out for Shaline to stay in.

"Oh, shit!" he exclaimed, and Chris and Shaline who had been laughing over something turned around

What?" they asked in unison.

"I've got work at 11:00!" Chris looked at his watch.

"Its 11:00 now, man!" said Chris, his eyes twinkling. Gordie glared at him, and half ran to the closest stop sign.

"What's he doing?" asked Shaline as she watched Gordie attempt to jump up onto the bumper of a car. Chris grinned at her.

"Bumper riding. It's the quickest way to get places" he replied "Just jump on the back of a car, and ride it until you get to where you want, and then you jump off" They watched as Gordie rode off into the distance, nearly toppling of the bumper.

"Interesting" said Shaline.

Shaline and Chris spent the rest of the day downtown, looking at shops. It was around seven when they started to get bored and it was starting to get dark.

"Hey, do you want t go see a movie?" asked Chris, "I'm pretty sure Citizen Cane is playing, and when It's over we can go get Gordie from 'work'" He brought his hands up and made two exclamation comma things with his two first fingers when he said "work"

"Sure" replied Shaline. She smiled at him, and they set off.

"Jesus Christ. That is EXPESIVE" Shaline and Chris had reached the theatre, and stood outside, looking at the prices of tickets on the piece of parchment tacked outside of the door.

"I haven't got that much money, have you?" She asked, searching in her pockets.

"Nope" replied Chris but he grinned at her.

"And I don't plan on paying that much" Shaline looked at him inquisitively. Chris took her hand, and Shaline felt a tingle go up her spine. He led her around the back of the theatre to the exit door.

"Ok, we have to wait about ten minutes, until we're sure the movie has started, and then we have to crawl in, and take some front row seats. Shaline nodded. They crouched down with their backs against the door.

"Tell me about your family" said Shaline. Chris looked at her, and then looked back at the pattern in the dirt that he had drawn with his shoe.

"My mom isn't around a lot anymore, and my oldest brother is in prison. My other brother is a Cobra-a gang-and I've got two little siblings, one brother and one sister. My dad's like your dad. He drinks a lot and hits if he even so much as sees me when he's drunk. How about your family?"

"Well, as you know, my mom left when I was born and I have an older half-brother named Chester. I, um, I had a half-sister, but her mom died when she was born and my dad sent her to an orphanage. As for my dad, you just described him." They sat in silence for a minute, and then Chris spoke up.

"My dad broke my arm once. I got suspended from school, and when he found out he twisted my arm around until it broke." Shaline didn't say a word, but she found herself grasping a hold of Chris' hand. He looked at her and smiled.

"I think we can go in now." He knelt on his knees and pushed the door open slowly. He turned and motioned for her to follow. She stuck her right hand through the doorway, just as Chris crawled out of the way of the door and it slammed painfully on Shaline's forearm

"Ow!" she exclaimed, but had the sense to not say it loud.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" whispered Chris crawling back and holding the door open for her

"Are you alright?" She nodded and crept through the doorway to a pair of front row seats/ A middle aged woman sitting a couple seats away from them scowled at Chris and Shaline as they took their un-paid-for seats.

_I will hopefully begin a chapter five on the very near future, so bear with me._


End file.
